NYC Taxis Get Third Logo in Six Years

After a century without an official logo, New York City’s fleet of yellow cabs now have their third logo in six years. The newest one signifies the so-called Taxi of Tomorrow that may soon be a relic of yesteryear.

The logo for the Taxi of Tomorrow plays off the previous two with a large yellow T in a black circle. It came about because when the second one was plastered onto the Nissan NV200 minivan, it looked a little small. “It was a little anemic,” David S. Yassky, the chairman of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, said, according to the New York Times.

The Taxi of Tomorrow isn’t just a new logo. It has reading lights, climate control, electrical outlets, and antibacterial seats. Outgoing Mayor Bloomberg aimed to have all taxi fleets buy these vehicles when replacements needed to take place. But the New York State Supreme Court ruled that Bloomberg has overstepped, and can’t force taxi-fleet owners to make that choice. [more]

While the city is appealing, the issue is not seen as one Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio agrees with, which means the policy is likely doomed.

The first logo New York taxis sported appeared in 2007, when Smart Design created the T in the black circle on the front door of the cab. As the Times notes, “City Hall insisted on adding an ‘NYC’ logo on one side and the letters ‘axi’ on the other, to avoid any possibility of mixing taxis up with the T trains that are to run on the future Second Avenue subway line.” The silliness of that idea fed into the second logo, “NYC T,” that came to existence in 2012.

In a different sort of branding, a bunch of taxi drivers have banded together to produce a calendar filled with muscled, sometimes shirtless drivers all over Manhattan, the Times reports. The Taxi and Limousine Commission aren’t involved. But don’t think these fellas will be getting rich off calendar sales. Each was paid $100 for the photo shoot and proceeds from the $14.95 calendars will go to University Settlement, which helps out low-income and immigrant families.